First Loss for Georgetown in Post-John Thompson Era

Craig Esherick’s emotional ride continued Monday night, as his Georgetown basketball team nearly upset the No. 11 team in the nation at New York.

But St. John’s, 14-3 overall and 5-1 in the Big East, got 18 points from Bootsy Thornton and 20 from point guard Erick Barkley and held off the Hoyas, 71-69, handing Esherick his first loss in his second game since taking over as coach for John Thompson.

“All the emotion we’ve gone through is not an easy thing to overcome in a short period of time,” said Esherick, an assistant to Thompson for 16 seasons.

Thompson, who resigned last week after 27 seasons at Georgetown, was in attendance.

The Hoyas (8-7, 1-5) had a chance to win but Dean Berry’s three-point shot bounced off the rim at the buzzer.

No. 15 Kansas 73, Missouri 61--Ryan Robertson had 17 points and the Jayhawks held the Tigers to 16% first-half shooting at Columbia, Mo.

Kansas (12-3, 4-0 Big 12) held Missouri scoreless for more than eight minutes en route to a 17-point halftime lead, then held off a late surge by the Tigers (12-3, 3-1).

WOMEN

Peppi Browne scored a career-high 22 points and grabbed nine rebounds to help No. 12 Duke (13-4, 5-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) defeat Wake Forest (6-9, 2-3), 74-59, at Winston-Salem, NC. . . . Naomi Mobley had a career-high 21 points and 10 rebounds, and Tiffany Travis had 19 points to lead No. 18 Florida (13-5) to an 89-59 victory over Central Florida (7-6) at Gainesville, Fla. . . . Andrea Garner had 22 points, eight rebounds and three blocks as No. 20 Penn State (10-4, 2-2 Big Ten) defeated Michigan State (8-6, 2-2), 90-66, at State College, Pa. . . . Erin Stovall scored 19 points as No. 22 Virginia (10-4, 4-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) dominated the second half to defeat North Carolina State (8-6, 2-3), 60-46, at Raleigh, N.C.